Everything Horse magazine Magazine, October 2014

HORSE TRAINING “Luna made the decision to run away, so now I am showing her that actually the nicest place is by me, not from me and actually its much harder work her way” Explains Jason It’s not long before Luna realizes this and chooses to stand with Jason, after which he then rewards her with a nice scratch on her neck and starts the ‘pressure – release’ cycle again as he did in the beginning. “It’s important to make progress, but not get greedy. All I am looking for her stage of training is for her to accept even just the headpiece over one ear, so that’s my aim for today and as you can see she is relaxed again and so we can look to begin again” After rubbing her face and working with the bridle, Jason is eventually able to put the headpiece over one ear and decides to call it a day: “This kind of work can take weeks to progress, depending on the problem and the horse’s personality, so it’s important to take your time and not rush. Luna is very nervous, so we need to build her trust further and whilst slipping a head piece over one ear might not appear to be a huge step for this mare, it is a major milestone for her” Finally, should your horse have a behavioural problem, Jason always recommends looking at the whole picture from health through to the tack used. Jason feeds Aloeride to those resident horses because of the supplement’s wide reaching benefits from helping to boost a compromised immune system through to helping support a good digestive system and if you feel your horse’s behavioral problem is out of your capability, don’t be ashamed to call in professional help. For further information on Jason Webb: www.australianhorsetraining. co.uk For further information on Aloeride: www.aloeride.co.uk Tel: 01858 464 550 QUICK FACTS with Tom Clothier, Wirral Farrier www.wirralfarrier.com Why does my horse lose a shoe? Most common causes are; • Mud slowing the front foot down and allowing the back foot to catch up and strike the shoe loose. • A poorly maintained fence where the shoe can get caught and pulled off. • Poor hoof strength, where nails will become loose therefore leading to a lost shoe. • Unfit horse, this can lead to the horse not tracking up properly and striking a shoe loose. • Clumsy horse, many horses stand on their own feet sometimes leading to a lost or loose shoe. • Shoes being left on longer than recommended by your qualified Farrier (this can cause an abscess,tendon injuries and even Laminitis). The Science Most of the reasons mentioned above are from the horse catching the shoe and pulling them off, you may think there is an easy fix where your farrier could just fit the shoe tighter at the heel so there is nothing to catch, but there is a reason shoes are fitted with extra length and width at the heels. This image shows how the hoof expands and contracts upon weight bearing. The wear pattern shows the heels opening and closing over the 6 week period. The heels keep growing and wearing down as the steel shoe wears down, this is one of the reasons the toe growth is usually longer than the heels. This is the main reason Farriers give length and support at the heels to provide enough surface area for the hoof to expand over October 2014 • Issue 13 • Everything Horse UK Magazine the 6 week period, sometimes we need to give less support when horses are continuously loosing shoes but in these circumstances the shoeing period is brought forward accordingly. Never lose faith in your Farriers ability to provide you with a good service even if your horse continually loses shoes, just have a chat with your Farrier there are many different shoes and techniques we can try for horses that lose shoes, remember the No1 prevention to lost shoes is a regular visit from your Wirral Farrier every 6 weeks, this will ensure stable hoof growth and you are much less likely to have any hoof problems. Some horses have been bred in such a way that they end up with poor quality hooves or conformational abnormalities, most of the time we can support the horse in many ways using different techniques (remedial Farriery) but sometimes there is not always a cure so we do our best to support the horse and keep them sound for their working life. 41

Everything Horse magazine Magazine, October 2014 | Page 41